Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - Book Review

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - Translation and Commentary by Sri Swami Satchidananda is my all-time favorite book on explaining the relationship of body-mind-spirit.

Step by step the reader is led on a journey of insight for gaining mastery of the mind - rather than being led on a wild goose chase by the mind's ever new desires.

The original sutras are in Sanskrit and insightfully explained in English by Sri Swami Satchidananda - a world-renowned spiritual master of the 20th century.

Satchidananda's kind, caring heart shows as a teacher in his thorough explanations of the original sutras. The insights of bygone days are brought to the modern world in words we can understand today.

Swami Satchidananda was a leading world leader in the interfaith ecumenical movement, especially through spearheading the Light of Truth Universal Shrine, LOTUS, in Buckingham, Virginia, 50 miles south of Charlottesville.

I knew him personally for more than 25 years and was always amazed by his keen insight and wisdom, which he could apply to any question posed to him. This ability comes after developing clarity of mind, and he applied it in this interpretation of Patanjali's sutras for today's world.

Now, it is up to each of us to trace the route Patanjali laid out, and apply the insight learned by taking time to reflect and meditate upon each sutra.

Spiritual students can use the book as a self-paced course by taking time to write their developing understandings of the sutras in a journal for periodic review and reflection.

Recommended magazineIntegral Yoga Magazine, an ecumenical quarterly journal on yoga and meditation applied to daily life, inspired by its founder, Swami Satchidananda. Each issue contains knowledgeable in-depth articles by professionals in their field. Check out the article samples at the web site link at yogaville.org